The Sanjha Morcha will not be joining the September 7 dharnas to be organised by the Congress. Stating that the notice of Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh was too short for its allies CPI and CPM to decide on whether to support the Congress call,Peoples Party of Punjab president Manpreet Badal said their alliance was here to stay and they had jointly decided to go ahead with their agitation announced earlier.

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We are unable to respond right away as time is too short for us to be part of this dharna. However,we are thankful to the Congress President Captain Amarinder Singh for this invite and view this step as a development in the struggle to build up consensus against the anti-people policies of the Punjab government. These problems will not go away with one dharna. There are going to be many more opportunities of united dharnas in the future as we feel that there are more taxes in the pipeline, he added.

On likely alliance with the Congress before the 2014 parliamentary polls,he said it was not impossible. It is too early to talk about 2014. So far there is no formal proposal. These kind of negotiations are not done through the press, he added.

On their own course of action,he said a memorandum will be presented by the leadership of Sanjha Morcha to the Punjab Governor requesting him to ask the Punjab government to withdraw these taxes immediately failing which it was decided to launch a Jail Bharo agitation on the lines of call given by the Morcha at the Barsi of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal. The Morcha activists will court arrest at all district headquarters on September 21.

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Reiterating that the piecemeal imposition of taxes is not a solution to the debt and deficit faced by the state,he said it only distorts the economy and makes it uncompetitive while burdening the common man with taxes.

He said the decision of SAD-BJP regime to impose punitive and savage taxes on the people of Punjab was discussed threadbare. The Sanjha Morcha is of the view that Punjab needs to fundamentally change the governance and taxation structure. A political solution is required to come out of this economic mess. Before imposition of taxes,the government must decrease its lavish expenditure base.